Vladimir Dzhanibekov

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Dzhanibekov (Russian: Владимир Александрович Джанибеков, born 13 May 1942) is a former cosmonaut who made five flights.

Vladimir Dzhanibekov
Владимир Джанибеков
Vladimir Dzhanibekov in 1993
Born (1942-05-13) 13 May 1942
Iskandar, Tashkent Region, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union
(now Republic of Uzbekistan)
NationalitySoviet
OccupationPilot
AwardsHero of the Soviet Union (2)
Order of Lenin (5)
Order of the Red Star
Space career
Cosmonaut
RankMajor General, Soviet Air Force
Time in space
145d 15h 56m
SelectionAir Force Group 5
MissionsSoyuz 27/Soyuz 26, Soyuz 39, Soyuz T-6, Soyuz T-12, Soyuz T-13

Biography

Dzhanibekov was born Vladimir Aleksandrovich Krysin (Russian: Владимир Александрович Крысин) in the remote area of Iskandar in what was then Bostanliq District, South Kazakhstan Region, Kazakh SSR (since 1956 – Tashkent Region, Uzbekistan)[1] on 13 May 1942. His family moved to Tashkent soon after his birth.

In 1964 he married Liliya Munirovna Dzhanibekova, who was a descendant of Janibeg, medieval ruler of the Golden Horde. As her father had no sons, Dzhanibekov took his wife's family name in order to honour her ancestry and continue her line of descent, an unusual step for a husband in the Soviet Union.[1]

In 1960 he entered Leningrad University to study physics, where he became involved in flying, something in which he had always been interested. In 1961 he decided to enroll in the V. M. Komarov Higher Military Flying School at Yeisk and simultaneously studied at the Taganrog State University of Radioengineering. Four years later he graduated and became a flying instructor in the Soviet Air Forces serving at military training unit number 99735 in Taganrog in 1968–1970. In 1970 during the visit of Gherman Titov to the Taganrog-based training unit, he was selected into the team of cosmonauts.[2] This was the same year that he joined the Communist Party.

Dzhanibekov made five flights: Soyuz 27, Soyuz 39, Soyuz T-6, Soyuz T-12, and Soyuz T-13. In all he had spent 145 days, 15 hours, and 56 minutes in space over these five missions. He had also performed two EVAs with a total time of 8 hours and 35 minutes. In 1985 he noted the effects of the tennis racket theorem, subsequently also called the Dzhanibekov effect, by showing that rotation about an object's intermediate principal axis is unstable while in free fall.

After leaving the cosmonaut program in 1986, he became involved in politics. He was the Deputy to the Supreme Soviet of Uzbek SSR from 1985 until 1990. He is also interested in photography and painting and his works, predominantly about space, are owned by museums and private collectors.

He also became interested in ballooning and flying around the world. He made only one flight though, which lasted only 30 minutes. He, Larry Newman and Don Moses lifted off in Earthwinds on 13 January 1993 but could not penetrate a strong inversion layer and tore the ballast balloon on a mountain peak.

The minor planet 3170 Dzhanibekov, discovered by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh in 1979, is named after him.[3]

Honours and awards

Foreign awards:

He is an honorary citizen of Gagarin; Kaluga (Russia); Arkalyk (Kazakhstan); Baikonur (Kazakhstan)[4]; and Houston (United States).

See also
  • Tennis racket theorem, or Dzhanibekov effect, a theorem in dynamics involving the stability of a rotating body with different moments of inertia along each axis.

References
  1. "Владимир Александрович Джанибеков". ASTROnote. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  2. Vladimir Dzhanibekov – Сайт школы №50 г.Ташкента Archived 26 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. school50.uz
  3. Lutz Schmadel (5 August 2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer. pp. 262–. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  4. The official website of the city administration Baikonur - Honorary citizens of Baikonur
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